Just $1 to Support CeCe

I know that ten or twenty or fifty dollars may be more money than you can afford to donate to support Chrishaun (CeCe) McDonald. But what about one dollar? A single dollar — enough to buy a candy bar, or a small bag of chips, or a quarter of a gallon of gas. If we all gave just one dollar to support CeCe and spread the word, getting even more people to give a dollar and spread the word — there’s power in numbers. Just because we can’t afford to give large amounts of money doesn’t mean we can’t raise it.

Ms. Mcdonald is an African American transgender woman who was attacked by a group of white adults while walking by the Schooner Tavern on Lake Street in South Minneapolis, early on the morning of June 5th. Patrons of the bar attacked Ms. Mcdonald and her friends with transphobic and racist slurs and bashed Ms. Mcdonald’s face with a glass beer mug. Despite the fact that Ms. Mcdonald was the victim of the hate crime and multiple people were involved in the altercation that led to the death of one of her attackers, only Ms. Mcdonald was charged. She is currently being held in solitary confinement for her “protection,” despite her requests to be moved to general population.

Why are we raising money for CeCe? To again quote the website, “We need to raise $100,000 dollars immediately to cover the costs of CeCe’s bail. Funds are also needed for commissary, legal expenses, medical expenses, and other related incarceration costs.” If you go to the website here, you can donate using Paypal.

Go to site; donate a dollar, or five dollars, or whatever you feel moved to give. And then spread the word, and tell your friends. Don’t have any money to spare? Tell your friends — I’ll even add the URL here, so all you need to do is copy and paste: http://supportcece.wordpress.com/about/. Keep updated by checking Support CeCe McDonald!. Write CeCe a letter to show her your support. If you’re in the area, show up at the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis on Monday, July 11th, to support CeCe in court.

Transgender women of color face disproportionate levels of violence and harassment, and are pulled into prisons and jails at extremely high rates. Over 30% of trans women of color are incarcerated every year. Once in prison or jail, 38% are harassed, 15% are physically assaulted, and 7% are sexually assaulted. These violent abuses are enacted upon them by guards and fellow prisoners. Although none of us knows all the details about what happened on June 5th, we do know that the deck is stacked against Ms. McDonald, and we ask concerned community members to support her in her trial.”

CeCe is a part of our community — whether that community be LGBTQ people, or people of color, women or Minnesotans, or even just members of the broader global community of people. To quote CeCe herself, “Everybody should just be treated like human beings, no matter who they are.” As a transgender woman of color, the deck is stacked against CeCe. She still deserves to be treated like a human being. Are you willing to do that? Support CeCe McDonald.